Ecoustics: If size were not a factor and budget were limitless, building truly awesome loudspeakers would be easy. One can imagine (and purchase) close approximations to the perfect speaker. For most of us, however, reality intrudes. Realistically, we need speakers sized to fit into our media rooms (leaving space for a nice bigscreen TV and one, or preferably more, people). And some of us would prefer not to tap into our home equity to meet our entertainment needs. As a result, we need speakers that are comfortably small and reasonably priced. Tannoy, no stranger to the realities of loudspeaker building, honed that equation and brought forth the HTS 200 home theater speaker system.
Priced at $999 (about 760 euro), the HTS 200 comprises short and slender towers, small but not tiny center and sats, and a comparably abbreviated subwoofer.
Plus:
•Bright, lively sound just right for some listeners
•Excellent transient response with good clarity
•Tastefully designed small cabinets will delight decorators
Minus:
•Bright, lively sound too much for some listeners
•Surrounds a bit bass-shy for the towers
•Diminutive sub hits only 5 on Richter scale